Come What May
by Cassella
Summary: Harry, Ron and Hermione are entering their sixth year at Hogwarts, and all seems normal, but certains events pull the trio apart, will their friendship hold through? Please Review!
1. Like a nightmare

**Disclaimer: I own none of this. I wish I did, but I don't. All I own is the plot. **

**Like a Nightmare**

It was 6:00pm and growing dark. An average height boy with scruffy black hair was sitting on a swing in the park, the pinkish glow from the horizon shone in his eyes, unusually green, but with an intense sadness to them. There was a thin scar on his forehead in the shape of a lightening bolt. This one scar made him a remarkable boy. He was known throughout his kind as the saviour, as the boy who lived. Harry Potter.

But it had all changed. The dark wizard who gave him that scar, the one that killed his parents and tried to kill him, the one whose name wizards everywhere fear to speak, Lord Voldemort, was back, and more powerful than ever before. Lord Voldemort had terrorised people for years, he killed people who he deemed not worthy to live, people who crossed him, people who got in his way, and people who stood up to him. Harry spent most of last year tying to persuade people it was true, that he had indeed returned to full power, but now that everyone did know, it made it all too real. Before, when everyone thought it crazy to even consider he was alive, he could almost imagine that it was true. That he was indeed dead. But now it was out.

That wasn't the only thing that had changed. Two weeks ago in the Ministry of Magic Harry had come face to face with Voldemort for the third time since that night when his parents had died. His godfather, Sirius Black, had died. As Harry swung slowly on the old rusted swing, he pictured his face just before he died. Still a twinkle in his eyes, laughter had not yet died from his face. It had been killing Harry inside. The closest thing he had to a parent. Gone forever.

Angry beyond belief Harry got up off the swing and kicked a stone as hard as he could. Harry started back towards number four Privet Drive. He had become so absorbed in these memories for the past two weeks, that Dudley had stopped picking on him. He didn't react at all. There was no fun in it for him. The only thing that could keep his mind off things was schoolwork. Even though they hadn't been set anything, he just read all of his old schoolbooks that he had gathered since his first year.

Harry got up to the front door and opened it. A voice bellowed to him from the kitchen,

"Where in the ruddy hell have you been boy? I hope you haven't been making trouble for yourself again."

Harry ignored his Uncle Vernon and stomped up the stairs to his room

"Are you ignoring me boy? COME DOWN AND TELL ME WHAT YOU WERE UP TO!" Vernon roared up the stairs. Harry took no notice.

Another reason that Harry was particularly angry today was that it was his sixteenth birthday, and NONE of his friends had contacted him a tall. Not a present, not a card, not even a note to say that his friends were still alive. But when he got into his bedroom he was shocked, and almost let out a yell of surprise. Because his best friend's younger sister was sitting on his bed, whispering furiously into a walkie-talkie.


	2. Sweet Sixteen

**Sweet Sixteen**

"No dad, I think he'd notice if I took the light bulb…" She stopped when she noticed Harry was standing in the doorway with his mouth hanging open.

"Over and out. Err, Happy Birthday Harry!" She said and was starting to blush to the roots of her flaming red hair. A couple of years ago she'd have given _anything _to be in Harry's bedroom, but she was over him now.

"What on earth? Why are… how?" Harry stuttered, still very confused. A fuzzy voice of Arthur Weasley came from the device in Ginny's hand.

"Wow…you should see these street lamps, they just switched on of their own accord…simply _fascinating_…"

Ginny rolled her eyes and spoke into it

"Harry's here now. I was just about to explain the situation."

And Arthur's voice came back through it

"Ah. HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY" Arthur spoke in the tone of voice people often use towards elderly people or people that speak a different language. "HOPE YOU'RE HAVING A NICE DAY." Then the voice got distracted by something, "Hey is this where the batterlies are, ooh, I wonder what happens if I…" The walkie-talkie went dead.

"Sorry about him, he got very excited when we went into a muggle shop to buy these. Wouldn't stop going in and out of the automatic doors," She sighed "We got some _very _strange looks. Anyway, back to business. We were wondering if you wanted to stay at the Burrow for the rest of the summer. Call it a Birthday present." Ginny said to Harry.

A huge grin suddenly spread across Harry's face.

"I'd love to!" Harry was suddenly happy for the first time in weeks. He was so happy in fact that he forgot to keep his voice quiet. Uncle Vernon was coming across the landing.

"Why are you making such a racket?" Vernon bellowed "Who are you talking t-" Vernon stopped in shock as he opened the door, he eyed Ginny suspiciously and spoke in a low angry voice,

"Why is there a _girl_ in you're bedroom?"

Harry decided it would be safer if he cut in before his purple Uncle jumped to conclusions.

"This is Ginny, my friend's sister, they were just wondering if I wanted to stay at their house for the rest of the summer, and go to Hogwarts with them."

Vernon looked torn between being happy to get rid of Harry and angry at the mention of the 'freak school'. It kind of made him look like he was trying to divide a very long number in his head.

"So, err I'll just be going then." He edged away from his uncle as if he was a ticking bomb, and started getting his possessions together and putting them into his trunk, he got Hedwig's cage and started towards the door, gesturing for Ginny to follow him. The two of them walked cautiously out of his bedroom door. Harry glanced back to his Uncle Vernon who looked like an insulted hippogriff. They went down the stairs quickly and out of the front door.

It was a cold night, and the stars were shining brightly. At the end of the Dursleys' perfectly cut lawn, sitting on the low garden wall, was his best friend, Ron Weasley, and Arthur Weasley, Ron's Dad. Harry was _so_ pleased to be seeing his magical friends. Being stuck with the Dursleys made Harry feel so cut of from the rest of the magical world.

"Happy Birthday, mate!" said the tall gangly red-haired Ron.

"Thank you so much! I owe you BIG time! So why did you send Ginny in? Why not you?" Harry asked, still very happy that he was leaving.

"Well, you see, Ginny was the only one that could fit through your window! We sent her up on my broom." He waved his hand to the Cleansweep 6 that was propped up on the garden wall. Harry began to wonder how they were going to get back to the Burrow, they didn't own a car anymore, and he couldn't see any ministry official's car parked anywhere. And as if he were reading Harry's mind, Arthur stuck out his wand to the road, and a there was a huge BANG! A towering purple bus was standing in the middle of Privet Drive. Harry had ridden the bus before about three years ago. At the time he was running away from the Dursleys after an unfortunate incident when he 'accidentally' blew up his Aunt Marge. He looked up at the three story high bus and followed Arthur and Ron aboard.

"Well 'ello _Neville._" Said a very familiar conductor. "How've you been, eh?"

"Fine," Muttered Harry avoiding the puzzle looks he was getting from Ron, Arthur and Ginny. They all paid for their tickets and also ordered some hot chocolate. They were led to three beds on the very top floor.

Ron questioned Harry, "OK, why did that guy call you Neville?"

Harry sighed, "Its a long story, it could take a while."

Ron looked out the window at the dark blur that was rushing past. Ernie, the old driver yelled out, "NEXT STOP ABERBEEN!"

Ron looked back at Harry, "Well, I kind of get the feeling we have a while mate!"


	3. Back at the Burrow

**Back at the Burrow**

Finally the tall purple bus stopped in front of a very rickety house, it looked like a pig-sty with lots of stories built on top. The average muggle would think that if a breeze happened to pass them by it would fall down instantly, and that only magic would keep it upright. But as a matter of fact that was exactly what did hold it up.

Harry followed Arthur, Ron and Ginny down the many stairs from the top of the bus to the bottom. Before he got off he gave Stan a tip of seven sickles. As he stepped out he took a deep breath of fresh air, he could hear the chirping of the crickets in the undergrowth and he could see a few knobbly foreheads of gnomes, which were angry at the sound the Knight Bus gave off. He smiled and could just feel the magic radiating from this house.

As he crossed the threshold he smelled a delicious aroma coming from the kitchen. A smiling faced woman came out of the kitchen with a mixing bowl in her hand. She was slightly plump and had the famous red Weasley hair. Her name was Molly Weasley.

"Hello Harry! Welcome back! I hope you're hungry, I've been cooking up a treat for everyone." She beamed at Harry, Ron, Ginny and Arthur.

"You can count on it!" said a ravenous looking Ron.

"Ron, be a dear and take Harry and his luggage up to your room."

"'K. Come on Harry!" spoke Ron again.

The two boys rushed up the stairs to Ron bedroom.

The walls of his room were completely orange, his bedsheets were orange, his rug was orange and his curtains were orange. From all over the lurid orange walls, the same seven people smiled down at him. These people were the Chudley Cannons, and surprisingly enough,their team colour was orange. Harry spotted a shiny new broom-stick propped up at the end of the bed.

"Whats that?" Asked Harry, pointing towards the broom.

"Oh," Ron grinned and went over to get it, "Its a Nimbus 2000, like your old one! Great, huh!"

Harry wasn't sure how Ron had got hold of it, because though the Weasley's were a lovely family, they were extremely poor. So he chose his words carefully,

"Erm, I don't mean to sound rude but-" and much to Harry's relief Ron cut in.

"It's from Fred and George, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes really took off, so they decided that if me and Ginny were going to be on the team, then we would need decent brooms!"

Harry was truly happy that for once in Ron's life, something he owned wasn't a hand-me-down.

"Hey thats great Ron!" he said.

Ron looked at his broom for a couple of seconds and then voiced a question that has been spinning in Harry's mind ever since they left school at the end of last year.

"Harry, who do you think'll be Captain of the team this year? It could well be you, I mean, you'll be the person thats been on the team the longest."

Harry wasn't sure whether he really wanted to be the captain, on one hand he was sure that he could bring together a really good team; but on the other hand it could prove to be a lot to handle, with all the homework they'll be piling on in preparation for their NEWTs at the end of 7th year.

Ron saw the unsure look on Harry's face

"You would yes? If they asked you to be?" He asked

"Probably. Lets not talk about this at the moment, cross that bridge when we come to it eh?" Harry said quickly.

And they didn't talk about it at all for the rest of the night. They just talked about the proffesional Quidditch teams in the league, Hogwarts, and plans for the rest of the holiday. As Harry lay in bed before he slept, his last thought was, in spite of everything that had happened to him recently, how incredibly lucky to have a friend like Ron, who was willing to take him into his own home.


End file.
